![“I wasn't discouraged by some of the obstacles we faced. I learned a lot from the leadership. I found that different people need different ways of receiving feedback — you can't [just] tell them to do something and expect the best. [Some] people needed more incentive. A large part of my role was to figure out what worked for everyone and to figure out how to lead all these separate individuals as a team,” Suhana Bhandare (’26) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/SuhanaBhandare_JasmineHansra-1-1200x798.jpg)
![“This is actually from Randy Pausch Randy P. Brick: ‘Walls are there for a reason. You have to show how much you want to overcome them.’ You have to show how much you want something. That's what I've always been able to do with tennis, Link Crew and getting that internship [with Kushy Baby]. It’s important pushing through that — getting around that brick wall, climbing over it or clawing through it,” Yash Sachdeva (’26) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/YashSachdeva_RamBatchu-copy-1200x1002.jpg)
![“[Building nerf blasters] became this outlet of creativity for me that hasn't been matched by anything else. The process [of] making a build complete to your desire is such a painstakingly difficult process, but I've had to learn from [the skills needed from] soldering to proper painting. There's so many different options for everything, if you think about it, it exists. The best part is [that] if it doesn't exist, you can build it yourself," Ishaan Parate said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/DSC_8149-900x604.jpg)
![“When I came into high school, I was ready to be a follower. But DECA was a game changer for me. It helped me overcome my fear of public speaking, and it's played such a major role in who I've become today. To be able to successfully lead a chapter of 150 students, an officer team and be one of the upperclassmen I once really admired is something I'm [really] proud of,” Anvitha Tummala ('21) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-25-at-9.50.05-AM-900x594.png)
![“I think getting up in the morning and having a sense of purpose [is exciting]. I think without a certain amount of drive, life is kind of obsolete and mundane, and I think having that every single day is what makes each day unique and kind of makes life exciting,” Neymika Jain (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Screen-Shot-2017-06-03-at-4.54.16-PM.png)
![“My slogan is ‘slow feet, don’t eat, and I’m hungry.’ You need to run fast to get where you are–you aren't going to get those championships if you aren't fast,” Angel Cervantes (12) said. “I want to do well in school on my tests and in track and win championships for my team. I live by that, [and] I can do that anywhere: in the classroom or on the field.”](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/DSC5146-900x601.jpg)
![“[Volleyball has] taught me how to fall correctly, and another thing it taught is that you don’t have to be the best at something to be good at it. If you just hit the ball in a smart way, then it still scores points and you’re good at it. You could be a background player and still make a much bigger impact on the team than you would think,” Anya Gert (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AnnaGert_JinTuan_HoHPhotoEdited-600x900.jpeg)
![“I'm not nearly there yet, but [my confidence has] definitely been getting better since I was pretty shy and timid coming into Harker my freshman year. I know that there's a lot of people that are really confident in what they do, and I really admire them. Everyone's so driven and that has really pushed me to kind of try to find my own place in high school and be more confident,” Alyssa Huang (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AlyssaHuang_EmilyChen_HoHPhoto-900x749.jpeg)
Investment Club facilitated a panel session with Meta Vice President of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Manohar Paluri and Vice President of Content Anne Kornblut discussing AI and leadership in Nichols Auditorium on Monday.
Kornblut spoke about her experience transitioning without prior coding experience from her Pulitzer Prize-winning career as a journalist to her role at Meta. She highlighted AI’s role in helping her learn new concepts during the chance and emphasized how it can support the humanities by analyzing large amounts of information, like millions of files from the Edward Snowden investigation that won her the award.
Attendee Siri Gudladona (9) emphasized how the panel reshaped her perspective on AI, especially as a student interested in math and computer science.
“I thought originally AI was just going to go only into the technology sector, it’s going to intersect things like journalism and all these creative fields,” Siri said. “That really got me thinking because AI has such a really big impact on not only the technology aspect of our world, but almost every single aspect of our world.”
Throughout the discussion, Paluri expressed the importance of key skills like adaptability and genuine curiosity that would prove useful in a rapidly changing world. He encouraged students to approach the future of AI with an optimistic outlook, reasoning that those who failed to utilize AI in their careers would fall behind.
“I hope they took away that careers are not planned linearly, and you follow your passion and curiosity,” Paluri said. “I hope they learned how to use AI as an opportunity rather than a negative mindset, and also think about their careers and plan how they learn things to be more futureproof, where it’s okay for setbacks. You use that information to improve yourself.”
Club officers Colin Li (11), Aden Liu (10) and Nisa Pradeep (9) moderated the panel, asking questions about AI topics like vibecoding and AI’s potential harms. They helped coordinate and publicize the event through emails and online promotion.
“For me specifically, with someone who knows more in depth about the AI stuff as well as someone who has a broader look upon the industry, it gave me a lot of insight about how we should adapt in the future to fast-changing technologies such as AI,” Aden said. “I will definitely view all this with a different perspective, now that I’ve gotten the insight from these individuals.”
